Mission. Vision. Background

Transcription

1 1 Table of Contents Introduction Pg. 2 Spark Words Pg. 3 Planning Pg. 3 Organization Pgs. 3-4 Marketing Pg. 4 Operating Strategy Pgs. 4-5 Garden Team Pgs. 5-6 Decision Making Pgs. 6-7 Guidelines, Policies, and Rules Pg. 7 Volunteer and Participant Responsibilities Pgs. 7-8 Attaining a Garden Plot Pg. 8 Planting Methods Pgs. 8-9 Welcoming New Members Pgs Food for Thought Pgs Considerations Pgs Keys to Success Pgs Monitoring and Evaluation Pgs Monitoring Tools/Resources Pgs Evaluating Tools/Resources Pgs Resources Pg

2 2 Mission To advocate for and create community gardens along the Lafitte Greenway, which will improve health outcomes of local residents, strengthen neighborhood bonds, support environmental stewardship education, and foster economic growth in the Lafitte Corridor. Vision To improve community health and vitality: Physically: by increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables, providing educational classes for all ages on nutrition and sustainable growing practices, and increasing opportunities for physical activity. Socially and Culturally: by creating a space for families and neighbors to come together to exchange ideas and share traditions while acknowledging the history of gardening on the land, fostering multi-generational relationships, creating opportunities for local residents of all ages and ethnicities, displaying community assets, and reclaiming the native food culture. Environmentally: by planting native species, utilizing good storm water management practices, growing produce sustainably, recapturing food waste, creating a space for biodiversity to naturally flourish, and creating environmental stewards through education and practice. Economically: by creating new economic opportunities for Lafitte Corridor residents, supporting the development of a sustainable local food system, improving community resilience, and improving food security for Lafitte Corridor residents. Background On May 27-28, Friends of Lafitte Greenway and partners hosted the Local Foods Local Places Workshop. Over 80 residents and stakeholders gave their ideas to develop a Strategic Action Plan to increase access to healthy local foods in the Lafitte Corridor. We are pleased to present Building Our Local Food Economy: A Strategic Action Plan for the Lafitte Corridor, a community-based plan to advocate for and create community gardens along the Lafitte Greenway, available for download below. The following information came from the LFLP sustainability section of the Local Foods Local Places (LFLP) Report (Kelly Bond Local Food Intern, Pgs ).

3 3 Spark Words Make sure that each of these are included in your final product Methods Guidelines Policies Rules Structure Business Who How Constructive Monitoring Evaluation Community Planning Every garden needs structured organization and an established leadership team. Many gardens around the country use a garden board to manage the garden. The planning process should determine what the board will look like, how many people are on the board, what their roles are, and who are the ideal candidates. Below is a typical garden board break down with a brief description of each role. These positions are voluntarily filled by members of the community, almost always without monetary compensation. The board can be housed within the larger organization running the gardens that holds the financial liability. See appendices for sample bylaws outlining more detailed roles and rules for the board. Keep in mind the five roles below are merely one example, which can be tailored to the Lafitte Greenway Gardens' needs. Organization What will be the legal structure of your organization (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, nonprofit, cooperative)? How will the business management be organized? Will there be a single farm manager to oversee all business operations or multiple managers to oversee various business segments (e.g., marketing, operations, finance, human resources)? Where a multiple manager structure is anticipated, a simple organization chart may be useful to explain the organization. Who will be the principal or key managers who will run the business? What unique skills do they bring to the business and what will be their duties and responsibilities? Will there be an overseeing board or board of directors?

4 4 What will be the composition of such a board and what, if any, role will members of the board take in the business? How will the principals, key managers, or board members be compensated? Are there any administrative expenses associated with the management or oversight of this business? Marketing Defining a strategy for marketing and sales is the most important part of your business plan. The development of your marketing strategy will require an understanding of the market, including the demand for your product, the potential customers, and the potential competitors. Operating Strategy Crop Management: Crop management for a farm involves maximizing the food crops that can be produced on a piece of land to meet the objectives of the marketing strategy, in terms of the type, amount, and quality of crops that are to be produced. This involves an understanding of both the approach that will be used to produce the crops and the schedule for planting and harvesting the crops. Discuss your approach to crop production including the specific method to be used such as vertical gardens, raised beds, surface planting, hydroponics, aquaponics, cold houses, or green houses. Size and Capacity: Discuss the estimate for the amount of crops that can be repeatedly produced (e.g., pounds of produce per month for each market segment and crop type) given the crop management approach, property size, and available resources. The output should be estimated for the first five years of operation. You may also want to estimate a high and low case output for purposes of evaluating the range of potential output against the objectives of the business strategy. These output projections should be consistent with your plans for the growth of the business. Describe your growth plans. Physical Resource Needs: Physical resources include land, buildings, and equipment necessary to produce and market your crops to meet the objectives of your business strategy. Discuss your physical resource needs and how they will be acquired. Describe the environmental factors related to the resources that will be

5 5 needed to run the farm, such as water, electricity, and the impacts the farm may have on the environment (e.g., waste generation and disposal). Human Resource Needs: Describe the manpower needed to operate the farm. This should include management as well as farm labor. Estimates of the number and types of workers needed can be made by identifying the specific tasks that will be required on a daily basis on the farm, including administrative and management responsibilities, and estimating the number of hours per month for each task. These tasks can be grouped by skill or experience and the total number of hours for each group estimated. As an example, tasks can be grouped into marketing, operating, administrative, and finance. Regulation and policy: Operating a farm business will require a number of state or local zoning, permitting, licensing, and other regulatory issues be addressed. These regulatory requirements could have a significant impact on your production and operating plans, as well as on start-up costs. To minimize the impacts and properly plan production activities, identify the types of permits, licenses, or regulations and associated fees required to start up and conduct the business. Describe the political or legal factors that will influence or limit your activities. Your business must operate within governmental and regulatory requirements, such as zoning, planning and building requirements, waste management requirements, and sales and other tax requirements. (Partnership for Sustainable Communities, 2011) Garden Team President: The president has several duties including setting and distributing agendas for both Board and general gardener meetings. During meetings, the president must maintain order of all attendees. They are the key liaison between the garden and community partners. This includes any city government departments the garden might be working with. Lastly the President issues violation citations to gardeners as noted by the Garden Liaison position (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015). Vice-President: This position is charged with organizing and updating a list of current garden members, along with the waiting list (if there is one). The VP assigns plots to gardeners as they become available. This position steps up to lead meetings in the President's absence (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015).

6 6 Secretary: The Secretary maintains gardener forms from year to year including, registration, rules and regulations, and hold harmless forms. When Board of Director positions are open, the Secretary handles the list of nominees. They also record all meeting minutes (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015). Treasurer: This position handles monetary tasks including, creating the annual budget, tracking expenses and revenue, collecting garden member dues, and balancing the budget quarterly (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015). Garden Liaison: Finally the Garden Liaison position is the key contact for gardeners. They are tasked with keeping a ledger to track completed volunteer hours for all gardeners. They notify the entire Board of Directors when new supplies or equipment need to be purchased for the garden, getting approval for these expenses. The Liaison also reports violations by gardeners to the Board, specifically the President (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015). The Hopatcong Community Garden Bylaws provide an example of a wellfunctioning Board of Directors, consisting of the above five positions. In addition to the specific roles defined, the board also performs other duties ensuring the garden mission is carried out. Each board position is for a total of two years. Elections for positions are held every year, with two positions being open in odd-numbered years and three positions in even numbered. Garden member are allowed one vote for each position during the annual October election meeting. In order to run for a position, an interested garden member must submit their name to the current Board at least two weeks prior to the October meeting (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015). If a formal board does not make sense for the Lafitte Greenway Gardens, a less structured leadership team can be created. This team should include several passionate community garden members who want to take charge of running and maintaining the gardens. Unique roles can be created, assigning certain tasks to specific leaders. Such tasks include communication, new member induction, site management, and community outreach. (Niemi, 2015). Decision Making There are a few decision making styles to consider

7 7 1. Consensus (all garden members must agree to the solution), 2. By vote (majority of garden members win), 3. Autocratic (garden board or relevant committee decides, or they appoint a leader to make a decision). Additionally the garden board or a committee can make a recommendation and put it in front of the general garden members for a vote (Bond, 2015). In a typical community garden, the garden board makes urgent and also minor decisions alone. Larger decisions are put to vote in front of all garden members. This can be done at monthly garden meetings. Information around the item to be voted on can be sent out through or other channels a week prior to the meeting for everyone to read through. Those attending the meeting can vote, and those not able to attend may be permitted send in their vote ahead of time or vote by proxy for maximum participation. Guidelines, policies, and rules Outline specific guidelines, policies, and rules for garden operation to eliminate confusion and potential conflict down the road. As stated by the Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador in a 2011 report: Garden guidelines will include information about health and safety guidelines for the garden to ensure safe practices by participants and volunteers while working at the garden. These will also include guidelines for working with others, sharing space, and treating fellow gardeners with respect. Guidelines provide a place to record procedures to ensure that from year-to-year new volunteers and participants know how to open and close the garden and run activities throughout the growing season. (Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011) Volunteer and participant responsibilities Outline requirements and expectations of gardeners Will they be asked to participate in clean-up days? Will they serve a certain number of volunteer hours per month or growing season? Will they attend classes or trainings, attend garden meetings? Most gardens require members to serve garden-wide work a certain number of hours throughout the season, which can be completed through assisting at garden-

8 8 wide clean-up days, fundraising events, or other events and classes put on by the garden. Members should log their hours and/or report them directly to a member of the garden board assigned to track them (Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011). Mandating attendance at classes or garden trainings is a way to ensure new gardeners are learning all they need, without singling them out (Mickley-Doyle, 2015). Other responsibilities include maintaining upkeep of personal plots, through weeding and harvesting produce, and maintaining the area around their plot (i.e. pathways and plot borders). Consequences for failing to complete any of these responsibilities must be outlined (Food Security Network of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011). Attaining a garden plot Determine how you will decide who gets a garden plot and what they need to do to keep the plot (see responsibilities above). Create a waiting list if there are not enough plots available for all those interested. Consider allowing plot sharing, where more than one person maintains a plot. They can split the plot in half or use the plot communally (Hopatcong Community Garden, 2015). Policies to ensure continued local resident inclusion in the garden should be created (Kato, 2015). The garden might have unique sections with plots for people from specific neighborhoods. Most gardens charge a small fee which goes to maintenance costs and to cover water use. If someone is temporarily unable to maintain their plot (due to health, vacation, etc.) they should contact the garden board so another gardener can be asked to care for it (Wujec & Rooney, 2012). Planting methods Discuss the type of growing that will and will not be allowed in the garden such as organic or limiting use of certain pesticides and herbicides.

9 9 Gardens may create a list of acceptable and prohibited plants for the garden. For example a garden may place a height limit on plants to avoid someone's plot from shading another plot. The installation of an onsite composting system is highly recommended. Rules around what may and may not be composted, how and when to turn the compost pile, type of composting method used, and use of compost in plots must be established (Goodall, 2010). Plot upkeep o Be clear with garden members from the beginning about plot upkeep so you do not end up with an overgrown garden. o Not only does an overgrown garden look unpleasing to the community, but it will require significant work to restore it. o Keep fruit trees and shrubs pruned. o Garden members can be assigned to various general upkeep tasks and rotate between positions. o Plot should be kept free of weeds, spent plants, debris, and trash. o In the fall, gardeners can turn compost and organic material into soil in their plots. This can then be covered with a layer of mulch to keep the soil temperature regulated and maintain a high moisture level over the winter. o Any perennials must also appear well kept (Denver Urban Gardens, 2012). Welcoming new members Proper introduction to a garden is important for a community garden s success. A good way to get new members acquainted with a garden, including rules and policies, is to put together a welcome packet. This packet might include: o A description of the garden (including the history, ongoing programs, and management layout) o Gardening tips o A gardener agreement (detailing roles and responsibilities of gardeners) o Contact information for garden management board o A liability release o A photo release (Mickley-Doyle, 2015) (Goodall, 2010)

10 10 After presenting a new member with the welcome packet, complete a proper induction with the following: o A tour of the garden o An in-person conversation regarding garden rules o What facilities/services are available o An outline of how they can contribute to decision making and be involved through events (Goodall, 2010). Forming gardener mentorship program is a great way to pair up less experienced gardeners with more experienced ones. This encourages the formation of new relationships within the garden and allows new gardeners to feel more comfortable and willing to participate. They can go to their mentor with questions and issues that may arise in their plot. Keep in mind that the majority of interest for community garden plots may come from older women who have interest in gardening and more time to dedicate to it (Kato, 2015). Outreach specifically targeting other groups is necessary to recruit a diverse mix of people. Food for Thought Sharing tools and other items in the communal tool shed Pets and accompaniment of small children Alcohol and drugs Unwanted garden activities (Goodall, 2010) Access to material Training and educating gardeners Working with other organizations (Lawson & Drake, 2012). Choose low-maintenance materials for the garden (i.e. crushed gravel instead of mulch). o Landscape architects and master gardeners are good points of contact to help determine the best options. o Additionally choose low-maintenance plants for common areas and those that will help rebuild the soil. Think about how the garden will be maintained over the summer.

11 11 o If it remains open, be prepared to deal with more insects and much less plant growth. o Due to the Southern heat, gardeners will be less active and engaged. o If you wish to close the garden, create a plan to use cover crops, lay wooden boards over top plots, or some other method to allow the soil to sit still for several months. As mentioned in the planning section, there should be rules established for violations of the garden agreement and failing to be a responsible gardener. o Be sure the management team stands by these rules and implements them every time. o Creating a violation warning system is a good way to let gardeners know you are serious, without being too harsh. o Reach out to members to find out why the violation occurred in the first place. o Were they unsure of the rules? Do they need assistance in the garden to complete the task (Goodall, 2010)? Considerations Lack of communication One of the biggest issues faced by organizations is poor communication. o To keep gardeners on the same page, establish a good communication system. o This can be an list, a Google group, a Facebook page, a newsletter, a garden website or blog, etc. o Be sure you are reaching everyone involved through your chosen method of communication. o It's advantageous to choose multiple communication forms, keeping in mind those without Internet access. o In addition to getting the word out about events, you will want a more private form of communication to relay things such as meeting agendas, decision made, and violations of garden rules. o These internal issues are not relevant to the entire community (Barone, 2015)(Kato, 2015).

12 12 Conflict Any garden will naturally have some conflict between members. The key is to resolve this conflict before it erupts into a larger problem. o Establish a process or method to handle conflict that arises. o Try to allow the gardeners to work it out amongst themselves at first. o If the problem persists, bring it to the garden board. o Here the board can walk through the established process for conflict resolution. o Get at the root of the problem and address it to avoid future conflict down the line. o Address the problem as soon as it arises, but also allow necessary "breathing time" for heated situations. o The board should meet with those involved individually, to hear all sides of the story and propose resolutions. o Ideally, through proper communication, nurturing of gardener relationships, and encouraging positive attitudes and behaviors, conflict can be avoided altogether (Barone, 2015)(Kato, 2015). Negative behavior and attitudes To avoid negative behavioral conduct, a statement such as the following can be incorporated into garden policies: o Gardeners...will keep garden free of discrimination, harassment, hate activity based on age, ancestry, citizenship, creed, color, disability, ethnic origin, family status, gender identity, level of literacy, marital status, place of origin, membership in union or staff association, political affiliation, race, receipt of public assistance, record of offences, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristics. (Wujec & Rooney, 2012) 4. Gentrification o This issue is especially relevant in the New Orleans environment. Leaders of the garden must ensure that as the gardens grow, those in the surrounding communities can still participate. There should be a system in place to avoid pricing these residents out. One way to keep the garden affordable is to keep the member fee low, if there is one at all. The low fee for the traditional

13 13 community gardens can be offset by charging the small growers in the urban farm a fee for leasing their plot of land (Kato, 2015). Keys to Success A successful community garden has support from not only the community and those directly involved, but also from local organizations and the city government. Support can come in the form of volunteer time, money, or advocacy. A garden is successful when: o The staff has maintained commitment to the community gardens over time (Miranda, Harper, & Pohl-Kosbau, 2009). o Gardeners form a connection with the garden location, and specifically the soil in which they grow. They also form an appreciation for the work required to maintain a garden and grow food (Miranda, Harper, & Pohl-Kosbau, 2009). o Gardens serve a larger purpose, addressing social and environmental justice issues. These multi-purpose spaces provide opportunities for physical activity to community members and improve local food systems (Miranda, Harper, & PohlKosbau, 2009). o Programs are formed with a stable foundation, allowing continued servicing to community (Miranda, Harper, & Pohl-Kosbau, 2009). Continued input A community garden should be expressive of the wants and needs of a community. o In the beginning check in with members monthly (but eventually this can be yearly) to get feedback on changes they would like to see and what needs improvement. o Members can always provide feedback at monthly garden meetings, however it is good to set aside a specific time dedicated for this purpose (Redwood City, 2012). When starting a garden conducting a "skills audit" is often part of asset mapping, however go back to the community every once in a while to refresh this skills list. o Call upon the community for help before turning to outside help. o Always strive to build self-sufficiency within a garden (Redwood City, 2012). One of the biggest issues a garden faces is sustained motivation and interest among its members.

14 14 o Over time people tend to lose interest, especially if they do not feel connected to the garden. o Holding regular meetings, programs, and events can help. o Again it cannot be stated enough that gardeners must be included in the decision making process and be able to voice their concerns. o Create a sense of ownership and get the community invested from the start (Redwood City, 2012). o Having the gardens located close to residents is important so they see it every day and want to know what's happening. o Proximity is also important to limit travel time for gardeners, especially those with limited mobility (Kato, 2015). Holding events, class, trainings, and other programs at the garden is key to ensuring sustainability. These offerings should be for people of all ages and experience levels. Classes can target certain groups of people. However, the garden should host a wide variety of programs. A good way to include children (and ultimately reach their families as well) is to hold nutrition education and gardening basics classes. Example programs include: Composter Training Program, Master Community Gardener Training Program, Free Seeds and Transplants Program, Growing Organically, Helping Kids Get Healthy Educator Workshops, and Public Walking Tours (Denver Urban Gardens, 2012). These events benefit existing gardeners and create buy-in from the public through engagement. Other events: Movie nights (health documentaries, "green" movies), open mic nights, potlucks, art and craft fairs, food markets, guest speakers, public walking tours, and promotion of the garden through public announcements (i.e. newspapers, TV, radio, local publications)(barone, 2015)(Denver Urban Gardens, 2012). Form subcommittees As the garden expands, new subcommittees should be formed to handle new garden components. Such components might be new programs, garden members, or paid staff. Below are some example subcommittees with detailed roles: Community Building Committee: Committee provides outreach and community building activities for the community garden. Activities could be a formal donation

15 15 program, a garden newsletter, potlucks, other social events, etc. (Denver Urban Gardens, 2012). These events target non-gardening neighborhood residents to engage more people. Maintenance Committee: Committee ensures upkeep of physical infrastructure, including smaller working groups for improvement projects, composting, tools and storage shed, maintaining the perimeter beds, the garden irrigation system, etc. (Denver Urban Gardens, 2012). Garden Mentoring Committee: This committee offers training and advice, coordinates workshops, and educates community gardeners within the community garden. This could include specialty trainings on organic gardening, water wise gardening, composting, mediating garden disputes, youth education, etc. (Denver Urban Gardens, 2012). Youth in the garden Getting neighborhood youth involved in and excited about a community garden ensures a next generation of growers. Work with local schools to create new, and expand upon existing, programs bringing children into the garden. Encourage youth to try new foods from the garden, developing their taste for healthy food. Involved parents can double the impact a garden can have on children. When children witness a parent enjoying and spending time doing a certain activity, they are more likely to give it a chance and remain enthused. Older youth can be involved through summer internships, allowing them to take part in gardening and provide a healthy activity to occupy their time off. Regardless of time of year or formality of a program, any involvement can help develop life and job skills that under-privileged youth often lack. These skills prepare them for the workforce and may even inspire some to become growers professionally (Redwood City, 2012). Monitoring and Evaluation Why monitor and evaluate?

16 16 It is extremely important to keep track of progress the Gardens are making for a number of reasons. It is important to ensure that the garden is within budget To ensure that programs are being implemented as planned To ensure that resources are being efficiently used To ensure that target groups are being involved To ensure that progress is being made toward goals To show value of the gardens to the city, funders, communities, policy makers, partner organizations, and more. How to monitor the success of a community garden: The United Nations Development Programme defines monitoring as:...the ongoing process by which stakeholders obtain regular feedback on the progress being made towards achieving their goals and objectives. Contrary to many definitions that treat monitoring as merely reviewing progress made in implementing actions or activities, the definition used...focuses on reviewing progress against achieving goals. In other words...not only concerned with asking Are we taking the actions we said we would take? but also Are we making progress on achieving the results that we said we wanted to achieve?...in the broader approach, monitoring also involves tracking strategies and actions being taken by partners and non-partners, and figuring out what new strategies and actions need to be taken to ensure progress towards the most important results. (United Nations Development Programme, 2008) Once the gardens are up and running, monitoring should begin. o Monitoring is an ongoing process of collecting information, not something to be done once and forgotten about. o The data collected should be evaluated and the findings put to use. o There is no point in collecting vast amounts of data and storing it away never to be looked at again. The following sub-section on evaluation will provide a framework and ideas for using this data. How to evaluate the success of a community garden:

17 17 The United Nations Development Programme defines evaluation as:...a rigorous and independent assessment of either completed or ongoing activities to determine the extent to which they are achieving stated objectives and contributing to decision-making. Evaluations, like monitoring, can apply to many things, including an activity, project, programme, strategy, policy, topic, theme, sector, organization. The key distinction between the two is that evaluations are done independently to provide managers and staff with an objective assessment of whether or not they are on track. They are also more rigorous in their procedures, design and methodology, and generally involve more extensive analysis. (United Nations Development Programme, 2008) While evaluating, consider the following questions: o How much do we do? o How well do we do it? o Is anyone better off? (Vermont Community Garden Network, 2013) "RE-AIM" is a commonly used evaluation framework, which is broken into five components to measure different elements of success. These components are: o Reach o Effectiveness o Adoption o Implementation o Maintenance. o Each one looks at a program through a slightly different lens. Together they create a full picture illustrating how your project is performing (Bowers, 2012). Refer to Pages for chart with specifics on the RE-AIM framework for evaluation. Additional ways to track progress and gather useful information, from the Vermont Community Garden Network and author Bowers, are listed below: Weighing produce grown by participants Weighing produce grown for donation Garden journals, individual journals, or a communal one kept in the tool shed, for gardeners to note:

18 18 o What they are growing o How they grew it o When they harvest o Any diseases or pests they encounter o Note what they saw, thought, felt, and learned in the gardens Photo journals: o Pictures of plants grown o Gardeners working o Attendees at events, etc. Class and participation log o Create a log to note where and how often classes are held o Have participants sign-in at each class or workshop o Gather information on their neighborhood, contact information, and how long they've been involved in the garden Taste tests o Program participants vote on their favorite dish or food tried, and comment on flavor/texture/etc. Written surveys o After every class, at the beginning and end of growing seasons, etc. o Ask participants to complete a brief survey to assess knowledge retained, effective implementation, and gather feedback Verbal interviews o Ask specific questions to get gardeners to share about their experiences and voice ideas and concerns Key informant interviews o Interview garden leaders and management team Focus groups o Hold these with garden participants to get ideas of trends and themes felt by the garden community Observations o Garden manager should observe what's happening in the gardens on a daily basis

19 19 o Note how many gardeners are actively gardening, when they're present, and for how long Health outcomes o BMI reduction o increase in food security o Increase in fresh fruit and vegetable consumption (obtained through diet recalls and food frequency questionnaires) o increase in physical activity (obtained through logs or surveys) (Vermont Community Garden Network, 2013)(Bowers, 2012) Evaluation methods should be tailored to measure the final goals and objectives of the garden. The Lafitte Greenway Gardens could partner with local Public Health Universities for assistance in crafting appropriate methods. The Tulane Prevention Research Center and the Louisiana Public Health Institute might be good points of contact. Sample evaluation toolkits and surveys are included in the resource section as a starting point.

20 20 Resources Forsyth Community Gardening o Extensive resource list on: starting a community garden, legal and safety considerations, composting, container and raised bed gardening, diseases, food preparation, flowers and herbs, fruits and vegetables, fundraising, insects, plot gardens, soil, youth, and Spanish materials - Community Gardens WA o Sample induction tools - Partnership for Sustainable Communities o Farm business plans and useful worksheets - df Cornell University Cooperative Extension and Department of Horticulture o Overview - o Evaluation guidelines - o Surveys (samples included) - o Interviews (samples included) - o Observations (samples included) - o Other evaluation links - o Program evaluation overview /Evaluation-Overview-14cl0cv.pdf National Ag Law Center

21 21 o Legal information on farmers' co-op's - Urban Ag Law o Information on legally selling produce - USDA o Regional Food Hub Resource Guide o "How to Start a Cooperative" (PowerPoint presentation) - 0Co-op.pdf California Center for Cooperative Development o Information on starting and maintaining agriculture cooperatives - Successful Cases University of Michigan "Building a Community-Based Sustainable Food System" o Case studies and recommendations - SustainableFood-Systems.pdf Rose Kennedy Greenway o NYC Highline o Overview of design, partners, practices, etc. - o Staff page for use as a model - o Sustainable practices -